Graduating from Case Western Reserve University in May 2008, I made Aliyah to Israel with the purpose of serving in the Israel Defense Forces. These are the experiences and observations of an Israeli born 22 year old who bypassed Wall Street to fulfill every Israeli's obligation to serve in the IDF.

Friday, October 28, 2011

My Article in the Cleveland Jewish News

After working as a camp counselor and serving in the IDF, I have realized that the biggest battlefield is that being waged in our communities and on college campuses. The only way to combat that is education.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

While I applaud your uneasiness at the young girl's "I like laying on the T.A. beach" answer, your efforts to turn her around are, in my opinion, misguided. Being armed with diversionary answers of what good Israel does in the world just avoids and demeans the central issue at hand.

For example, let's say, god forbid, that Israel was mostly conquered tomorrow and a good amount of Jews driven out of their homes by an outside force. Ten years later, this outside force, begins to start these amazing international aid programs, and excels in scientific discovery. If we Jews started protesting against this outside force would we be satisfied when they told us that they should not be protested against, due to their amazing humanitarian aid and scientific discovery? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

So I would recommend that you stop teaching kids diversionary tactics, and have them learn the meaty details of the conflict and then make their own conclusions. A palestinian family uprooted from their village in 1948 and their sympathizers do not give a shit that Israel has invented the cherry tomato.

- In 1948 160k Arabs accepted Israeli citizenship, btwn 472k and 750k left b/c of:o To escape the waro B/c wealthy Arab leaders left, and w/o leadership the Arab communities fell aparto b/c Arab leaders encouraged masses to get out of way of advancing Arab armies, promising victory would be quick and could soon returno Tales of alleged Israeli atrocities caused panico In some cases, Israeli troops forced Arab residents from their homes in sensitive strategic zones vital to survival of Jewish state- If you don't believe those facts, here is a quote from Senior British official discovered Gaza in June 1949, "while [the refugees] express no bitterness against the Jews (or for that matter against the Americans or ourselves) they speak with the utmost bitterness of the Egyptians and other Arab states. 'We know who our enemies are,' they will say, and they are referring to their Arab brothers who, they declare, persuaded them unnecessarily to leave their homes.... I even heard it said that many of the refugees would give a welcome to the Israelis if they were to come in and take the district over."

I do not claim that Israel is perfect, if you have ever heard me speak, you would know this. I open with "I'm not here to say that Israel is perfect, rather, we have made many mistakes. But we continue to improve, we continue to grow."

My point is education, learn the facts. These are the facts, not the false narratives by Israeli's enemies. A lie told a thousand times become a truth, remember that. And remember that you represent Israel, not a perfect country, but the ONLY country in the Middle East that permits you to speak out about your government. If we don't support her, no one will.

And I leave you with a third post by the great Israeli-Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh:

"Israel is a free and open democratic country. I enjoy living here and I would rather live as a second class citizen in Israel, even though I’m not, than a first class citizen in any Arab country.” Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh for JPost

“I don’t care who is in government in Israel. There is a partner. And my partner is the Jewish people. Why? Because a majority of Jews have already accepted a 2 state solution. I see a majority of Jews who don’t care anymore about Gaza. I see a majority of Jews who want to disengage from the Palestinians. I see a majority of Jews over the last 15 years marching toward moderation and pragmatism. I don’t know today of one Jewish mother that wants to send her son back to the streets of Ramallah or Gaza. I don’t know of one Jew who wants to control the lives of the Palestinians and run their education and health system. Sadly though, while the Jewish public has been marching towards pragmatism and realism and moderation, on the Arab side the message remains no, no and no.” Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh for JPost

(Shurangama Sutra and Mantra)(Kṣitigarbha)(Avalokiteśvara) (Mahāsthāmaprāpta)(Amita Buddhaya)(Bhaiṣajyaguru)The Twelve Vows of the Medicine Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, according to the Medicine Buddha Sutra are:To illuminate countless realms with his radiance, enabling anyone to become a Buddha just like him.To awaken the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli.To provide the sentient beings with whatever material needs they require.To correct heretical views and inspire beings toward the path of the Bodhisattva.To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before.To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings.To help relieve the destitute and the sick.To help women who wish to be reborn as men achieve their desired rebirth.To help heal mental afflictions and delusions.To help the oppressed be free from suffering.To relieve those who suffer from terrible hunger and thirst.To help clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold and mosquitoes.

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About Me

I graduated from Case Western Reserve University in May 2008 and made Aliyah to Israel in June. After living at Kibbutz Yiftach, I recently moved to Tel Aviv. My service in the Israel Defense Forces began November 19, 2008. Read about my experiences in Israel and serving in the Orev Special Forces of the Nachal Brigade here.